Josh Kaul

Josh Kaul
Josh Kaul
	Kaul in 2018
45th Attorney General of Wisconsin
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; January 7, 2019
Governor	Tony Evers
Preceded by	Brad Schimel
Personal details
Born	Joshua Lautenschlager Kaul; 1980 or 1981 (age 44–45)
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Lindsey Kaul
Children	2
Relatives	Peg Lautenschlager (mother)
Education	Yale University (BA); Stanford University (JD)
Website	Campaign website

Joshua Lautenschlager Kaul (born 1980 or 1981)^[1] is an American lawyer serving as the 45th attorney general of Wisconsin since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he had worked as a federal prosecutor in Baltimore, Maryland, and in private practice before being elected attorney general. Kaul is the son of Peg Lautenschlager, the 42nd attorney general of Wisconsin and the first chair of the Wisconsin Ethics Commission.

Early life and education

Kaul is the son of Peg Lautenschlager, an attorney and politician, and Kashmiri Pandit immigrant Raj Kaul. His stepfather, Bill Rippl, worked as a police officer. He was raised in Oshkosh and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.^[2] Kaul graduated from Yale University as a double major in history and economics. He earned his Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School.^[2] While a student at Stanford, he served as president of the Stanford Law Review.

Career

Kaul clerked for Michael Boudin in the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals.^[3] From 2007 through 2010, he worked for the law firm Jenner & Block, and worked as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's office in Baltimore through 2014.^[4]

In 2014, Kaul moved back to Wisconsin and joined the Madison, Wisconsin office of the law firm Perkins Coie.^[5]

Attorney General of Wisconsin

Kaul (right) with Governor Tony Evers and U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin at a 2022 campaign event

In the 2018 elections, Kaul ran for Attorney General of Wisconsin and defeated the Republican incumbent Brad Schimel. Kaul won by a small margin of just over 17,000 votes, but Schimel decided not to seek a recount and conceded defeat on November 19. Kaul became the state's first Democratic Attorney General since his mother's term in office.^[6]^[7] Kaul was reelected in 2022, defeating Republican Eric Toney.^[8]

On June 4, 2024, Kaul announced he was bringing felony forgery charges against three operatives of Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign who were involved in the plot to produce fraudulent electoral college votes from Wisconsin. Those charged included Kenneth Chesebro, a Wisconsin native and the alleged architect of the national fraudulent elector plot, Jim Troupis, a former Wisconsin circuit court judge who represented Trump in 2020 litigation, and Mike Roman, a Trump campaign aide and former White House staffer.^[9]

After governor Tony Evers announced in 2025 that he would not run for a third term as governor, Kaul contemplated a run to succeed him as governor. Instead, however, Kaul announced in October 2025 that he would not run for governor, and would instead seek a third term as attorney general of Wisconsin in the 2026 election.^[10]

Personal life

Kaul met his wife, Lindsey, at Yale. They have two sons.^[2]^[11]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Attorney General Election, 2018^[12]
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Josh Kaul	1,305,902	49.41%	+4.02pp
	Republican	Brad Schimel (incumbent)	1,288,712	48.76%	−2.78pp
	Constitution	Terry Larson	47,038	1.78%
	Write-in	1,199	0.05%
Plurality	17,190	0.65%
Total votes	2,642,851	100.0%	+12.45%
	Democratic gain from Republican

Wisconsin Attorney General Election, 2022
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Josh Kaul (incumbent)	1,333,369	50.64%	+1.23pp
	Republican	Eric Toney	1,298,369	49.31%	+0.55pp
	Write-in	1,539	0.06%	+0.01pp
Plurality	35,000	1.33%
Total votes	2,633,277	100.0%	+0.36%
	Democratic hold

References

^ Schulte, Laura (September 13, 2022). "What you need to know about Josh Kaul, the Democratic Wisconsin attorney general running for another term in 2022". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c Zientara, Bob (April 25, 2018). "Attorney General candidate has family ties to Barron | Free News". news-shield.com. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
^ "Candidate Q&A: Attorney general | Government & Politics". wiscnews.com. October 21, 2018. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
^ "In attorney general contest, Brad Schimel and Josh Kaul draw sharp contrasts | State-and-regional". wiscnews.com. October 21, 2018. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
^ "Wedge Issues: Josh Kaul talks public service, family, spreadable cheese | Politics and Elections". madison.com. September 14, 2018. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
^ Wolfe, Morgan (November 7, 2018). "WI Attorney General race neck and neck". www.nbc15.com.
^ Republican Attorney General Schimel Concedes to Josh Kaul. US News. November 19, 2018
^ "Josh Kaul defeats Eric Toney to win second term as Wisconsin attorney general in 2022 midterm election".
^ Beck, Molly (June 4, 2024). "Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul charges former Trump associates in fake elector scheme". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
^ Johnson, Shawn (October 7, 2025). "Josh Kaul won't run for governor, will seek reelection as attorney general". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
^ "Meet Josh – Josh Kaul for Attorney General". Josh Kaul. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
^ "Canvass Results for 2018 General Election" (PDF). November 6, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 14, 2018.

External links

Party political offices
Preceded by Susan Happ	Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Wisconsin 2018, 2022	Most recent
Political offices
Preceded by Brad Schimel	Attorney General of Wisconsin 2019–present	Incumbent

[1] Schulte, Laura (September 13, 2022). "What you need to know about Josh Kaul, the Democratic Wisconsin attorney general running for another term in 2022". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved July 25, 2025.

[newsshield-2] Zientara, Bob (April 25, 2018). "Attorney General candidate has family ties to Barron | Free News". news-shield.com. Retrieved October 21, 2018.

[3] "Candidate Q&A: Attorney general | Government & Politics". wiscnews.com. October 21, 2018. Retrieved October 21, 2018.

[4] "In attorney general contest, Brad Schimel and Josh Kaul draw sharp contrasts | State-and-regional". wiscnews.com. October 21, 2018. Retrieved October 21, 2018.

[5] "Wedge Issues: Josh Kaul talks public service, family, spreadable cheese | Politics and Elections". madison.com. September 14, 2018. Retrieved October 21, 2018.

[6] Wolfe, Morgan (November 7, 2018). "WI Attorney General race neck and neck". www.nbc15.com.

[7] Republican Attorney General Schimel Concedes to Josh Kaul. US News. November 19, 2018

[8] "Josh Kaul defeats Eric Toney to win second term as Wisconsin attorney general in 2022 midterm election".

[9] Beck, Molly (June 4, 2024). "Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul charges former Trump associates in fake elector scheme". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved June 4, 2024.

[10] Johnson, Shawn (October 7, 2025). "Josh Kaul won't run for governor, will seek reelection as attorney general". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved October 7, 2025.

[11] "Meet Josh – Josh Kaul for Attorney General". Josh Kaul. Retrieved December 21, 2018.

[12] "Canvass Results for 2018 General Election" (PDF). November 6, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 14, 2018.

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v t e Statewide political officials of Wisconsin
U.S. senators	Ron Johnson Tammy Baldwin
State government	Tony Evers, Governor Sara Rodriguez, Lieutenant Governor Sarah Godlewski, Secretary of State Josh Kaul, Attorney General John Leiber, Treasurer Jill Underly, Superintendent
Senate	Mary Felzkowski, President Patrick Testin, President pro tempore Devin LeMahieu, Majority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, Minority Leader
Assembly	Robin Vos, Speaker Kevin Petersen, Speaker pro tempore Tyler August, Majority Leader Greta Neubauer, Minority Leader
Supreme Court	Jill Karofsky, Chief Justice Annette Ziegler Rebecca Bradley Rebecca Dallet Brian Hagedorn Janet Protasiewicz Susan M. Crawford, Associate Justices

v t e Attorneys general of Wisconsin
Territory	Baird Wells Jackson Lynde H. Smith
State	Brown Coon E. Estabrook G. Smith W. R. Smith Bouck Howe W. Smith Gill Barlow Sloan Wilson Frisby C. Estabrook O'Connor Mylrea Hicks Sturdevant Gilbert Bancroft Owen Haven Blaine Morgan Ekern Reynolds Sr. Finnegan Loomis Martin Broadfoot Fairchild Thomson Honeck Reynolds Jr. Thompson La Follette Warren Miller La Follette Hanaway Doyle Lautenschlager Van Hollen Schimel Kaul

v t e Attorneys general of the United States
United States Attorney General: ▌Todd Blanche* (R)
AL ▌Steve Marshall (R) AK ▌Stephen J. Cox* (R) AZ ▌Kris Mayes (D) AR ▌Tim Griffin (R) CA ▌Rob Bonta (D) CO ▌Phil Weiser (D) CT ▌William Tong (D) DE ▌Kathy Jennings (D) FL ▌James Uthmeier (R) GA ▌Chris Carr (R) HI ▌Anne E. Lopez (D) ID ▌Raúl Labrador (R) IL ▌Kwame Raoul (D) IN ▌Todd Rokita (R) IA ▌Brenna Bird (R) KS ▌Kris Kobach (R) KY ▌Russell Coleman (R) LA ▌Liz Murrill (R) ME ▌Aaron Frey (D) MD ▌Anthony Brown (D) MA ▌Andrea Campbell (D) MI ▌Dana Nessel (D) MN ▌Keith Ellison (DFL) MS ▌Lynn Fitch (R) MO ▌Catherine Hanaway (R) MT ▌Austin Knudsen (R) NE ▌Mike Hilgers (R) NV ▌Aaron Ford (D) NH ▌John Formella (R) NJ ▌Jennifer Davenport (D) NM ▌Raúl Torrez (D) NY ▌Letitia James (D) NC ▌Jeff Jackson (D) ND ▌Drew Wrigley (R) OH ▌Dave Yost (R) OK ▌Gentner Drummond (R) OR ▌Dan Rayfield (D) PA ▌Dave Sunday (R) RI ▌Peter Neronha (D) SC ▌Alan Wilson (R) SD ▌Marty Jackley (R) TN ▌Jonathan Skrmetti (R) TX ▌Ken Paxton (R) UT ▌Derek Brown (R) VT ▌Charity Clark (D) VA ▌Jay Jones (D) WA ▌Nick Brown (D) WV ▌JB McCuskey (R) WI ▌Josh Kaul (D) WY ▌Keith G. Kautz (R) Federal districts: DC ▌Brian Schwalb (D) Territories: AS ▌Gwen Tauiliili-Langkilde GU ▌Doug Moylan (R) MP ▌Ed Manibusan (D) PR ▌Lourdes Gómez VI ▌Gordon Rhea
Political party affiliations ▌28 Republicans (27 states, 1 territory) ▌25 Democrats (23 states, 1 territory, 1 district) ▌1 New Progressive (1 territory) ▌2 Unknown (2 territories) An asterisk (*) indicates that the officeholder is serving in an acting capacity. State abbreviations link to position articles.